Why Calvin Johnson has no haters despite hitting the jackpot.

Ever since his days at Georgia Tech, Calvin Johnson has been the guy that you rooted for. His nickname “Megatron” may take after that of a villain but there’s something about the guy that never rubs you the wrong way.

Obviously it’s really easy to root for talented people. But talented people also draw a lot of negative energy as well.  Those that spit out this kind of energy are called haters.

Johnson most likely doesn’t have very many because he really keeps a low profile; especially for a wide receiver.  With the exception of one or two spots, he doesn’t engage in a lot of cash grab marketing.

Calvin "Megatron" Johnson

He has yet to let social networking tools make a fool of himself. He doesn’t make sure that the world is aware of his weekly stat line.

In short, he lets his work ethic and overall performance speak for him and not his showmanship.

He has his moments when he scores but like LaDainian Tomlinson unless your team just got scored on, his celebrations don’t get under your skin like those of certain folks.

This all needed to be said because the Lions just made him the richest player in the history of the league.  Their website says that the seven year deal is worth nearly $130 million.

How much of that he will collect as a Lion who knows? Seven years is a long time and as we just saw with ultimate franchise guy Peyton Manning, things can and most often do change.

By doing it this way the Lions will pay him $9 million this year versus the $22 million that they were due to pay him.

Say it with me; this will clear $13 million dollars in cap space in 2012. According to the team, this will help them go after other targets and they named LB Stephen Tulloch as their first order of business.

I can’t think of another player in the league that could command this kind of money and the world would not stop just to complain about it.

Can you imagine the fallout if a guy like Terrell Owens got this money in his prime? His numbers are certain points in his career certainly could have justified it but man so many NFL fans would have LOST it.

Johnson’s numbers in 2011 were so high they were gaudy. He had 96 catches for 1,681 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Neither number is a league record but they are all high enough together to showcase that he is beyond elite.

And normally when you are that good…you let people hear it. So that is why we don’t hate on him. It’s the lack of the consistent reminder that he is the man that drives our overall goodwill to acknowledging his accomplishments even when this one makes many rich men feel broke as a joke.

Congratulations Megatron, you were the first of this group to give the Lions hope, you always have done things the right way and you leave it all on the field.